Almost a New Beginning
by Physhy
Summary: Willow is on the hunt and Warren is running for his life, but he's got a different trick up his sleeve and Willow is in for an unexpected ride.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Out of Time

Author: Physhy

Rating: R for language and violence

Disclaimer: Not mine. I only own the plot. Buffy and the gang are owned by Joss Whedon, and Fox.

Summary: What if Warren a different spell from Rack to use against Willow. Set during Grave and Dopplegangland.

Chapter 1

She was stalking him, hunting him. The cool night air and damp leaves lashing at her face. She could tell he was just ahead of her, thrashing through the underbrush like a scared rabbit. She savored the fear she felt coming off him in waves. She slowed as she heard him stop just a few yards in front of her. Willow pushed aside a branch and stepped into a clearing in the forest. It was one that she recognized, she'd come here in the past for rituals with Tara. She could still see her here, her long blond hair flowing in the breeze. The thin sheen of perspiration on her skin as the power built between them,and after... It was that thought that drove the dagger of grief deeper into her heart bringing her back to the woods around her, and the man she'd chased out here.

Warren was sitting in a red circle, his pale skin sweating and trembling in fear. He was chanting in latin, some silly little piece of magic he thought would actually save his sorry hide. Willow laughed, her black hair flaring out around her. He actually thought he could use magic on her, she was the magic now. She could feel it racing through every inch of her being, surging to the brim with darkness. Her laughter rolled through the clearing and the with thought she could actually hear his heartbeat racing like a drumroll.

"Do you really think that you're strong enough to beat me with the magics. You couldn't even begin to comprehend what real power is. It would burn you out, because you're just plain weak." She paused in reflection and when she spoke Warren was surprised to hear the quiet girl he remembered from school. "She had it though. Not just the power but the strength to bear it. The only other person I ever met who came close was Buffy, but Tara she was stronger. The strongest person I ever met, and you took her away from ME!" Her voice rose into a painful scream that shook the trees and sent animals scattering.

Willow stopped as she felt a change in the air. The wind suddenly rose to a howl as it whipped passed her. She felt the familiar charge of energy as the magics built. It crackled with energy as blue lights began to swirl around her, stinging her skin and making her flinch. This wasn't supposed to be happening, he shouldn't be able to raise this kind of power. Warren just kept chanting as the magic grew. "What the fuck ? " was all she could say before she was completely engulfed by the blue light.

Sunnydale, Night, 3 Years Earlier

The darkness was invaded by a bright blue flash of light. Swirling around and around like a flame, burning higher and higher into the night before quickly fading back into nothing. In it's wake you could barely make out the lone reed thin figure left standing in the middle of the street. The pale girl with dark hair was shaking from head to toe, agony inching it's way into every inch of her body. She dropped to her knees and pain exploded from the contact and with that she mercifully collapsed onto the asphalt, lost to the dark.


	2. Out Of Time

Title:Almost a New Beginning

Author: Physhy

Summary: Warren, taking a different defensive approach sends Willow back in time to season three. How does she deal.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Joss Whedon and Fox.

Feedback: Please.

SUNNYDALE; NIGHT

The Scooby gang was headed back to the library after the big showdown at the Bronze, evil Willow and Anya in tow. They were nearly at the school when they saw it. A girl's prone figure lying on the ground. They all rushed forward to see if the girl could still be helped. Evil Willow and Anya only keeping up by the sheer force of Angel's pushing. Buffy stepped forward and kneeled down beside the slender form. The form was clearly female but dangerous looking, an angular figure in dark clothes. She froze as she felt a weird sort of energy coming off the girl, something dark and overflowing with sadness. The blond almost felt like her slayer senses should be pinging, but they weren't. Not exactly anyhow, still she felt herself bracing for an attack as she reached out and gently prodded the girls shoulder. She felt nothing but the shifting of dead weight. With her resolve strengthened she reached out once again and gripped the girls shoulders, rolling her over.

A gasp raced through the crowd giving sound to their shared wave of shock. The girl before them on the ground was Willow. Though she was clearly not identical to either the good Willow they knew and loved or the evil vampire version they had just discovered. As hard as it was to believe the girl lying at their feet actually looked more dangerous than her vampire twin. The girl's hair was dark and wild with leaves tangled in their tresses. Her face scratched and bleeding, but below that they could see veins dark and throbbing. Her features were taut and too thin, etched with lines from years of pain and struggle. Where Willow had always been slender, the girl with the dark hair looked positively sickly she was so thin.

"Dammit Anya, how many worlds were you trying to connect with." The group was shocked out of their visual inspections by Willow's loud outburst.

"Hey,this one is so not my fault. Before you blame me, check the signature, this isn't even our doing. Someone else sent her here." the former demon stood defensively with her hands on her hips, daring the shy red-head to take her on. She may be stuck in a human body but that didn't mean she had to take crap from a mouse like Willow.

"I think Anya may be right." Giles interrupted, pausing to clean his glasses as he wrestled with this newest conundrum. "Regardless, we need to get her someplace safe. She seems to be in bit of a state."

"Right ."Buffy said, begrudgingly stepping into the accustomed role of leader. "Angel can you carry her so I can keep an eye on Anya, and the other..." she paused glancing between the two dangerous looking women and her innocent best friend, confusion plainly written across her face."other Willow."

"Yeah, I got her." He bent down and took the dark-haired Willow into his arms. The group began to move again nearing and then entering the high school. A confused freight train of thoughts racing through their heads. They headed for the familiar safety of the library, the smell of old books and knowledge having become a comfort over the years. The unconscious Willow was laid down on the couch in Giles' office, while the vampire version of Willow was locked in the book cage after it had been cleared out of all the projectile weapons. There had already been more than enough excitement for one day, and it wasn't nearly over yet.

"So, where do you think she came from?" Willow asked nervously, breaking the silence that had been pervasive since their return from the Bronze. Still trying to fight off the fear that she had managed to manifest yet another evil version of herself.

"I don't know." Buffy said, obviously still quite beside herself. "But she seems so dark what with the black hair and the veins etched across her face. She looks like she's been through hell, and she's definitely been through a battle. I hate to say it Will, but I think you may be the only version of yourself that doesn't go all evil." The blond moved to stand beside her shaken friend, trying to share her strength through the hand resting on the scared girls shoulder.

"Don't be so sure." Every neck in the room cracked like a whip spinning around to stare open-mouthed with obvious offense at the former demon they'd all forgotten about with this latest development.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The group asked angrily. Their voices rising together in an outraged cry.

"Look at her she's clearly older than you, she may be younger than she looks but she still looks like she's pushing thirty. And her aura, I can still feel the evil in her its fresh, like new money. If she weren't so damn powerful, demons would treat her like shit. If you want to know what I think, I think she dabbled in the dark. Just a bit always for the right reasons of course, probably to help out little miss likes to stab over here. Not enough to seriously taint her, but enough to pick up some pretty scary skills. Then someone hurt her, a betrayal or a broken heart maybe. She's probably still very traumatized. If I had my powers, I probably would have gone to her. When you get hurt that bad, turning to the dark to exact your revenge can seem like the most natural thing in the world. The only right thing left." She finished quietly. Halfway through her response, she had seemed to stop talking to Willow, and began talking to herself. She seemed to come out of the daze she had fallen into, and spoke to the red-haired girl again. "She could be you in a few years, she probably is."

"I hate to say it, but we may have to consider the possibility that Anya may be right. We need to try to speak with her, see if we can't deduce what happened possibly see if we can help in some way."

"There's nothing you can do Giles." Came a voice from behind him. The group turned to look at the dark-haired Willow.

"How long have you been standing there?" the younger Willow asked.

"Long enough to hear Anya's little revelation. " She glanced over at the former demon acknowledging her wisdom. It had taken a disaster but she finally felt like she really understood the former demon. Xander would be proud she mused to herself with just a touch of mirth.

"Is it true?" Buffy asked her voice quiet the fear easily read on her face.

"Most." she stated simply.

"Who hurt you?" the blonde asked with tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. "Who could have caused you so much pain, that it came to this?"

"It's a little hard to explain." She said looking down. The first sign of the Willow they knew edging out from around the edges of the dark veneer that scared them so much more than the vampire version locked in the cage against the opposite wall. They all stood in shocked amazement when a streak of red replaced one of her black tresses.

"Can you try?" Willow asked her older self.

"I can't make any promises." she replied, a tear streaking down her face, the veins it crossed on its downward path getting washed away like dirt in a rainstorm.

"We're not asking you to." Xander said softly trying to ease her pain anyway he could. Seeing his best friend in so much agony almost too much to bear.

"Maybe it'll be easier if you start from the beginning." Giles supplied

"I don't even remember where the beginning is anymore." she cried, tears washing away more of the veins on her face as more red streaks were appearing in her hair.

"Let's take a different approach shall we." Giles suggested as softly as he could. "What was it that pushed you over the edge?" Dark Willow almost chuckled at his mannerisms, still so Brittish no matter what they came up with.

"We were in our room at Buffy's, and everything was finally so good again. She forgave me and we'd made up we spent the entire weekend in bed together making love to each other, savoring each moment after so much time apart." the younger Willow was blushing feverishly as the details of a sex life she didn't even have yet were revealed to her friends. "Buffy and Xander were in the backyard making up. Everyone had gotten so distant with everything that was going on. That was when Warren showed up." She turned to look at Buffy. "He was human so you couldn't kill him, but you ruined his plans and got his flunkies arrested. The cops were after him, so he decided to just finish it. He came to our home, and he pulled a gun. He shot you in the back, when you went to shove Xander out of harms way." The older Willow's voice had taken on a dead calm. "He was still firing when he turned and ran. A stray bullet went through our window, and into her. He shot her in the back too just like the coward he is. Her blood. " Willow paused, taking a deep breath fighting against the tears now streaming down her face " It was all over me. She just stood there, with this confused look on her face. She said 'Your shirt?' Those were the last words she spoke to me. Not I love you, or Be good to yourself. Just 'Your shirt' and then she was gone. I called on Osiris demanding his favor begging him to bring her back to me, but he couldn't. Because her death hadn't been supernatural, she'd had a natural death. Just another senseless human tragedy." She stilled, silent.

"Willow," Giles said, interrupting her thoughts "one cannot simply call on Osiris, and demand his favor. There is a spell, but the tools are near impossible to find. The power level required is enormous, and the physical tax is often fatal. The spell has no guarantees, and to just call on him and expect him to grant you favor, it's preposterous."

"Not if you've already done the spell once." she said quietly. Giles turned to her in astonishment.

"You raised the dead?" the rest of the Scoobies shared Giles' shock. Willow just nodded. "How did you get the urn of Osiris? There's only one left in the entire world, and no one knows where it is located." Willow smiled slightly. "May I ask what you find so humorous?"

"Anya found it on ebay. We paid twenty bucks for it." She replied bursting into laughter. They all watched in amazement as the rest of Willow's hair returned to its usual fiery red. Giles tried desperately to hide his own chuckle.

"Just tell me one thing. Who did you resurrect?"

"Buffy."she stated simply, looking into the eyes of her younger best friend.

"Dammit!" Buffy yelled "How many times have I died?"

"Three. But if it helps any, you're still alive and kicking."

"How?" Giles asked suddenly. "If Osiris wouldn't bring back your, uh... friend, how was he able to bring back Buffy?" Willow bowed her head slightly.

"Osiris didn't bring her back." Willow looked up suddenly, her eyes had turned black. A single lock of her hair hung in her face, it too was now black. The air crackled slightly around her. "I did." She said smiling. She turned to the younger version of herself. "So Willow, what do you think of yourself in the future. From the mousy computer geek in high school that no one was gonna remember to a murdering lesbo junkie in just three short years. Oh but we have learned a few things along the way haven't we, and we do love to learn don't we." Dark Willow started to creep closer to her younger self, staring her down and shutting everyone else out. "We learned how to make a woman quiver from head to toe with only the use of our tongue. How to make our nose stop spouting blood after a three day magic binge. How to end a human beings life."

"Willow, who did you kill?" Buffy asked nervously and for the first time she could remember she felt scared of her best friend. Not just the dark versions they'd discovered tonight but the shy innocent hacker she knew and loved.

"Rack. He was my dealer."

"Why? " She wasn't sure which of them had breathed that question. It could have been any of them. It could have been all of them.

"I needed more power to kill Warren. So I took it from him. I took every drop of power he had and left him a smoldering corpse on that dirty floor."

Everyone went quiet as they saw the dark Willow fall to the ground. A fuzzy blue dart sticking out of her leg. The unexpected motion had caught everyone by surprise but the scared red head holding the gun. She slowly started to regain her footing, and turned to stare down the barrel of the rifle in her twins hands.

"Did you really think that would stop me. I'm not done yet. I will track him down, and when I do I am going to kill him and there is nothing you can do to stop me. Not even the slayer is strong enough to stop me now. Before they can kill anybody else, I'm gonna kill them all." She turned to leave throwing the dart over her shoulder as she left, it sailed into a wooden beam nearly brushing against her younger self's face.

"Willow." Buffy called out. Stopping the dark Willow in her tracks. She turned ready to fight, green energy crackling from her finger tips.

"What." Her voice stern and strong in a way Buffy had never heard before.

"Think about this for just a second. This girl, whoever she is you obviously love her. That in its self means she must be someone pretty special, we all know you well enough to know you wouldn't waste yourself on someone who wasn't worthy. Here in this time, she's still alive. What would she say, if she knew what you were going to do? Do you really think she would want you to turn yourself into a murderer for her? "

"She's still alive here." Willow said quietly to herself. Her face brightened and just like that she took off running. Buffy followed shortly behind her. Amazingly, the slayer could barely keep up. When they reached the UC Sunnydale campus, Willow stopped suddenly.

Buffy glanced at Willow and noticed that her hair and eyes were back to normal and it was hard to tell for sure in the dark but it almost looked like the scratches on her face had healed themselves as well. That was even faster than her slayer healing could manage. She'd stopped running, and now was just staring off into the distance. The blond followed her gaze to a girl sitting alone on a bench in the campus quad.

"Is that her?" Buffy asked softly

"Yeah. I wish I could just run up to her and grab hold and never let her go again. I can't do that though, she was so painfully shy when we first met it would scare the daylights out of her. Plus we haven't met yet so she has no idea who I am. I'd just be some stranger running up and grabbing her in the dark. Besides she's a witch and this is Sunnydale, I might catch a curse. I know I shouldn't but I just wanna kiss her and tell her everything will be alright but I can't." The red head was crying again, seeing Tara like this alive and not being able to hold her was agony. "I need to say goodbye to her."

"Why goodbye?" Buffy was confused but still comforted by the fact that as much as this poor girl had gone through, she still babbled like the girl she knew and loved.

"Because just by being here I've created a sort of paradox. Eventually the path she's on will change so she won't become me. I'll cease to exist. Please, wait here." Willow said before beginning her slow walk towards the bench.

"Hi." Willow ventured when she stopped in front of the girl.

"H-hi." Tara said hesitantly, somewhat surprised by this surprising arrival. "I-I'm s-sorry. D-did you want the b-bench?" She asked, starting to rise. The shyness in her urging her to flee, while she could another side wishing to stay right where she was with this fiery red haired girl. After all her grandma had always said it was a red head that would be her undoing.

"No, I wanted to talk to you. Do you mind if I sit down?" the redhead gestured to the spot next to her and blond shook her head, surprised but pleased with the development as Willow sat beside her.

"I'm T-t-t"

"Tara." Willow finished for her putting on the best smile she could manage to keep the girl at ease. "I know."

"H-how?" the shy girl asked confused.

"I'm a witch like you. Not so funny story, I got sent back in time."

"A-are we f-friends?" the blond asked shocked at just how well she managed to interact with the new stranger.

"Actually, we're a bit more." Willow replied, looking deeply into Tara's eyes trying to communicate her feelings without spooking the poor girl.

"Oh." was all she could think of to say. She took a second to shake her head clear. "Y-you came here for a reason. D-didn't you?" Willow nodded.

"I came to say goodbye."

"W-why?" the blond asked, sort of sad, even though she'd just met the girl.

'Because I'm not really supposed to ber here. Things will happen as they are supposed to in their own time. Our time." She saw Tara was starting to say something and gently placed two fingers on her lips. "It's okay." She said, tears brimming in her eyes. "Because I know that we'll still be together."

"How?" Tara's own eyes were now welling with tears of her own. She didn't understand. She'd only just met this girl and already she felt something stirring for the girl deep inside her. Things she'd only dreamed of before welling up inside her aching to burst out. The feeling scary and unprecedented, but not unwelcome.

"Don't worry baby." Willow leaned forward and placed the softest of kisses on her loves lips, and Tara felt that thing inside of her soar. "I'll find you. I'll always find you." She kissed her again, more passionately an aching need starting to arise inside of them. They broke apart slowly, regretfully."I have to go now." Tara just nodded unsure of her own voice and not knowing what to say anyway. Willow stood and began walking slowly to Buffy, who had watched the exchange. After she'd walked ten steps she turned back for one last look. "You should go inside. It's not safe out here at night." She turned back around. "I love you." She whispered to herself, before continuing on toward Buffy. She stopped when she reached her best friend and they waited for the shaken girl to gather up her things and head inside. "We need to talk." She said as they started back towards the high school.

"I'm listening." Buffy couldn't believe the difference between the girl she now walked beside and the pale slim figure she'd found passed out in the street earlier.

"I'm going to put a spell on the others. So that they won't remember I was even here. There really is a reason people shouldn't know too much about their own futures. They're still her decisions to make and her lessons to learn. That's the heart of free will."

"Not me?" Buffy asked curiously.

"No, not you." the witch confirmed.

"Why?"

"I hate to say it but you're the slayer. You're the one who never gets a choice in shit like this, and it's gotta be somebody I trust to get it done. She can survive a lot. She's going to survive a lot, but losing Tara that's just too much. There's something you need to remember. When Warren and the trio show up, the complete trio. Warren, Andrew, and Jonathon. Make sure everyone gets bullet proof vests. Make sure they wear them twenty-four seven. Especially you and Tara. I need you to do that for me." They were nearing the school. "I'm going to leave. I don't know when I'll cease to exist, but I can't be here. She can't live her life with me here." They were standing in front of the school now "They won't remember anything tomorrow, it'll be better that way."

"So I guess this is it then." Buffy turned to look at the door. Thinking of Willow. "She's got a rough road ahead of her, doesn't she?"

"She does. But, it's one she has to take."

"We've all got our roles to play." the slayer said quietly to herself.

"Yes we do. " The wiccan replied. Buffy turned back to the red head and hugged her.

"I love you Willow." was all she said before releasing her, and entering the building.


	3. Finally Found

Title:Almost A New Beginning

Author:Physhy

Rating:PG-13

Disclaimer:Nothing having anything to do with Buffy is mine . You all know that .

Summary: Only Buffy and Tara are left with memories of the night the dark willow came, moments from the coming years . This chapter set during hush, when willow and Tara finally meet .

Reviews: Please.

UC Sunnydale Campus late afternoon

Willow left Buffy and Riley walking in the quad and headed for her first campus wicca meeting. The excitement of meeting others like herself young wicca's, with whom she could work and really communicate with on everyday witchcraft issues had her buzzing. She practically skipped to the building on the other side of the campus. She smiled and made small talk with the other wiccans while everyone milled around waiting for things to get started. Her glee was barely contained when the meeting was called to order, but the feeling quickly dissipated as minutes passed and nothing of promise was ever brought up. Her disappointment set in firmly when she raised the subject of real spells only to be shot down. She'd been hopeful for the briefest of moments when a blond girl on the other side of the circle had tried to join in then only to be intimidated by the wanna blessed bes calling themselves witches. 'It's a shame' she thought 'all this big dark mojo brewing in Sunnydale, and I can't find a single real witch to practice with. No matter she'd been doing well enough on her own for the moment, meanwhile she'd just have to keep on trying.

UC Sunnydale Wicca Meeting-Tara's POV

Out of nowhere she'd felt it. That odd sensation she hadn't felt since that night in the park when the strange girl had come up to her on the bench. That was when she saw her, that gorgeous red-haired girl. She looked much different though, she'd only met the girl once briefly in the dark. Her hair was shorter and despite the passing of a years time she actually seemed younger. She couldn't believe her eyes, she was finally here. Tara had waited a year for the chance to meet up with this enchanting young woman again, but what should she do. She couldn't talk to her, the girl had no idea who she was. She'd look the girl square in the eyes and had seen no recognition in them at all. She'd think she was a freak. What would she even say to the girl, "Hey I know we've never met but I've been waiting for you" It sounded like a cheesy pick up line. Still she had to say something before the opportunity completely passed her by. She couldn't wait another year to see this goddess again.

Finally she saw her chance present itself. The girl had suggested that the wicca group actually pursue real magic and had quickly been attacked for it. She had to say something. Stick up for this mystery girl somehow. 'Okay, just speak' she told herself. But now all eyes were on her. 'Oh goddess Tara say something, anything .' But it was too late, she could feel their eyes burning into her, waiting for her. "Nevermind" was all she could get out. She couldn't help but feel like she had failed this girl who had in some time or another, obviously done so much for her.

UC Sunnydale campus, Tara's POV

Things had been scary when the town had lost its ability to speak, but now people were dying. Something had to be done and she knew she couldn't handle this one alone, she was gonna need help. She had decided to find the girl from the park, the one who had finally showed up again at the campus wicca meeting today. She seemed to know a thing or two about magic just from her suggestions this afternoon. She'd asked around and eventually found her in the student registry. Her name was Willow and the blonde couldn't help but think that the name suited her perfectly. So it was with her books in hand that she headed out for Stevenson Hall. She'd covered most of the campus without incident everyone seemed to be scared off by this new Big Bad, even the demons. She was nearly there when she saw them, she couldn't even think of how to describe them she just ran. Straight to the person she knew would protect her, even if they didn't actually know each other yet.

She'd made it to the dorm in one piece but they were hot on her trail. She'd made it to the right building just fine but she had lost the room number earlier when she had dropped her books. There wasn't much time so she started staggering down the hallway banging on every door she passed along the way. Desperately hoping to find Willow behind one of them. Praying to the goddess to let her see the red-haired beauty just one more time. She was running fast now the air tight in her lungs hope fading.

Then she was crashing into something or more specifically someone. They both crashed to the hallway floor. They rolled and she found herself face to face with... Willow. She'd actually managed to find her just like she'd promised that night a year ago in the dark. She heard the girl's voice like a ghost in her head 'I'll always find you' and it soothed the ache the silence had caused. She didn't wanna move lying here with the beautiful redhead who would definitely be her undoing, but they had too. Those monsters were closing in on her again and they had to get moving now. Willow was hurt but they climbed to their feet, Willow with help and shuffled off to the nearest safe place they could find.

They ended up in the dorms common room. The door had a lock but it wasn't gonna hold up for long with those things throwing themselves at it from the other side. They tried to push the soda machine if front of the door but it just wouldn't budge. The red-head fell to the ground hurt but not beaten, she raised her arm and tried to force the machine with her magics. The machine began to shake inching closer to the door but she wasn't able to keep it up for long. It was so close but it wasn't enough, 'what if' was all Tara thought. Then slowly she reached over and took Willow's hand in her own, gazing deeply into her eyes. They weren't the same eyes she had looked into only a year before. In those eyes she had seen so much pain and sadness. There was none of that in this girl. There's was innocence, and hunger, but still this was her. The girl she had waited so long for. She savored in the touch of her skin, they way her eyes seemed to look straight into her own soul. She felt their power flowing and growing as they connected. Then it happened that sudden click that made Tara want to throw her head back in ecstasy. They both focused that energy on the object in question and the soda machine flew across the room, slamming into the door. They were safe now the door finally secured, but there was something else. She could feel it in the air around them, it was charged with electricity. Everything about this was right. It wouldn't be an easy path, but at that moment she knew it was where she belonged.

"H-hey" Was all the blond witch could get out . She'd been waiting a year to talk to this girl, and here she was holding her hand . 'I wonder if she feels it to ' Tara thought, looking at their linked hands . It was more than just the magic flowing through them . That in itself was powerful, but there was something else there too. Something strong, she didn't really know how to describe it except to say that it felt like home . A year ago she'd been given the chance to peer into this stranger's soul . Since then she'd been longing to climb in and make her home there .

"Hey" was Willows simple response, and for a moment they just sat there, gazes locked, unsure what this new feeling was but still unwilling to turn it away .

ere...


	4. Catching Up

Title: Almost a New Beginning

Author: Physhy

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: All belongs to the great and powerful Joss, and Fox.

Summary: Set in season 6 from Buffy's POV, time finally catches up.

Feedback: Please review, it's been awhile and I'm a bit rusty.

It was one of those days when the Slayer was forced to look at her life as she was pretty sure she was the only sane person in the history of the world to ever find themself poking through the bushes in the backyard with a stick checking for more evil lawn gnomes. This was exactly the measure of stupidity that that stupid little trio had brought into her life. She'd been waiting though, waiting and watching Willow. She wasn't gonna lie the red-headed witch had been through a lot the last few years, but she was still a long way from becoming the scary girl with all the dark mojo she had met senior year. With two out of three of her new foes locked up and awaiting justice she couldn't help but hope they might have just made their way through this thing, though not completely unscathed.

"Time for the spring poking already?" Came a deep voice from behind her she instantly recognized. She turned to greet Xander.

"Just making sure there are no more evil trio cameras. Or evil uno."

"The sinister yet addictive card game."

The blond couldn't help smiling at her old friend, she'd always hated fighting with him and she was more than ready for their current tiff to end. She needed her Xander shaped friend back. He was talking, saying everything that she was thinking about how they'd gotten here and how to get back to where they really belonged.

Tara spotted the exchange from an upstairs window, she and Willow having finally gotten both out of bed and dressed. Though she was already rethinking that as she watched Willow move around the room in those tight jeans and that little white top that left an expanse of exposed skin just waiting for her to reach out and run her fingers over it. 'And on that note' Tara slid quietly across the room sneaking up behind her love and snaking her arms around her waist pulling her in close and savoring that unique scent that was Willow, before leaning down to whisper in her ear.

"You know what I think? I think that if you'd really wanted to make it downstairs you would have put on a different shirt." The red-head couldn't help the groan that escaped her lips as her lover started trailing kisses down her neck. She turned in the blondes arms to face those lips that were quirked up in that smirk that she loved so much.

"I think you may be right." she replied with a smile leaning in for a kiss and slowing started walking her lover toward the bed against the far wall. They fell down onto the mattress engaged in a heated exchange hands seeking out the flesh it had missed for far too long. Tara's long fingers were working the ties on Willow's top when the first shot rang out, followed quickly by a second and a third. The girls froze in each others arms fear suddenly racing through them. Two more shots rang out the last shattering their window before embedding in the wall not four feet above their heads.

Once the shooting had stopped they flew out of the bed racing down the steps into the backyard where Buffy and Xander had been making up. They were surprised to find the slayer dragging a unconcious Warren through the yard, and amazingly enough he seemed to be the only one injured. Though the slayer was thoroughly enraged and didn't so much drop the man as throw him to the ground. The witches ran across the yard to their shaken friends, the fear still racing through them even though they could see everyone was still standing.

"What happened, is everyone alright?" Willow couldn't help the shakiness of her voice. They'd all been through a lot fighting alongside the slayer but being shot at was new even for them.

"This piece of shit shot me in the back and then ran away like a little bitch that's what." The slayer couldn't help emphasizing that point with a kick to the unconscious man's ribs, before returning her attention to the two girls now standing before her. "Are you both alright I heard a window break after that last shot." She scanned both girls up and down and they both seemed unharmed though a bit disheveled.

"No we're good, one came through the window but it missed us. It just went into the wall over our heads. We were terrified something had happened to you guys."

Buffy couldn't help the smile that crept across her face, they were both okay and it seemed to be because the two witches still couldn't keep their hands off each other. Willow's top was partially undone and hanging slightly askew. Tara's lips were flushed and swollen from kisses, her hair mussed by Willow's seeking hands. The two girls had clearly been getting hot and heavy when things went down and she knew deep down that that was what had saved her blond friends life. This is the moment that the dark girl had warned her about, and they had all survived this time around. Though her red-headed friend was looking at her with confusion written across her face.

"But how are you okay, you said he shot you?" The girl was clearly scanning her for injuries and was surprised to find her without any.

"Oh yeah." The slayer peeled off her sweatshirt revealing the bulletproof vest underneath. "It hurt like a bitch, but nothing fatal. I am so sick of dying." she quipped though the two girls didn't look convinced so she pulled them both into a hug. It didn't take long for Xander to join them between the high emotions and the allure of three beautiful women in a group hug.

It was like this that the police found them a minute later, responding to the shots fired. They collected Warren and the gun. They took statements from the Scoobies without questioning too much on how the smallest among them had taken down the armed man, or why she seemed to be wearing body armor. They took a few pictures and retreated back to the station with as little fuss as possible. Most of them had met or heard about the small blond at one point or another and were mostly just grateful to have their third robber in custody. Though he would need to make a quick stop over at the hospital as he was still unconscious and seemed to be in need of medical attention.

The crew gathered in the living room to bask in the peace that they knew would be short-lived. They'd made it through one more time, but they weren't foolish enough to deny that another would be coming. Buffy watched contentedly as the two witches sat together on the love seat leaning into each other both alive and happy, there wasn't gonna be any Dark Willow this time. For once, things actually worked out like she hoped they would. Dawn arrived home and the tale was retold and hugs were shared all around, and the slayer watched on grateful to be sharing this moment with her family.


End file.
